Talk:Benjamin Franklin

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This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Benjamin Franklin was a History good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
October 9, 2010	Peer review	Reviewed
June 28, 2015	Good article nominee	Not listed

Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on June 15, 2005, June 15, 2006, October 19, 2021, and April 17, 2022.

Current status: Former good article nominee

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This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Mike Vago (2014-09-08). "This week's Wiki Wormhole is all about the Benjamin (Franklin, that is)". The A.V. Club.

Text or other creative content from this version of Benjamin Franklin was copied or moved into Gulf Stream with this edit. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists.

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report. The week in which this happened:

August 28 to September 3, 2016 (22nd)

Benjamin Franklin’s Military Contributions

Latest comment: 1 month ago2 comments2 people in discussion

A strong case can be made that Benjamin Franklin should have a military service section in his Wikipedia infobox because he was not merely a civilian supporter of military affairs—he held an actual military commission and exercised command authority during wartime. During the French and Indian War, Franklin organized and led military forces for the defense of Pennsylvania's frontier, receiving the rank of Colonel in the Pennsylvania militia. He commanded a regiment of militia troops, oversaw the construction and supply of frontier defenses, and directed military operations intended to protect settlements from attack. If a military service section were included, his allegiance would be listed as Colonial Pennsylvania (within British America), his rank as Colonel, his command as a Pennsylvania militia regiment and frontier defense forces, and his conflict participation as the French and Indian War. These military responsibilities were significant enough to distinguish him from many other Founding Fathers who lacked formal military command, making a military service entry a historically justifiable addition alongside his better-known roles as a statesman, diplomat, scientist, and author. Omarmhussieny (talk) 12:32, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thank you. Would you provide some citations, please? Peaceray (talk) 20:36, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

References section does not collapse

Latest comment: 5 days ago2 comments1 person in discussion

On mobile, subsections usually collapse, but for whatever reason this is not the case for the «references» section of this article. This necessitates scrolling through the entire list of references to get to the bottom. I’m not familiar with the finer controls on Wikipedia, so if someone of greater technical skill could fix this, that would be great. Henrik242E (talk) 21:53, 23 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Nevermind, fixed it! Henrik242E (talk) 22:05, 23 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Benjamin Franklin’s Military Contributions

References section does not collapse